Turbocharged engines: What are they? And why are sales ready to explode domestically?

DETROIT, MI- Chris Bertoia drives a 2013 Ford Escape. When looking for a new vehicle, he wasn’t completely sold on anything with a four-cylinder engine.

The 31-year-old Commerce Township, Mich. resident previously owned a 2011 5.0-litre V8 Mustang, so he was a little skeptical about the sport utility vehicle's 2.0-litre I4 EcoBoost engine. However, after purchasing the vehicle, he says he would purchase another EcoBoost engine.

“I really do like it,” he said. “For a four-banger, it really doesn’t drive like a four-banger.”

So how has Ford Motor Co. made a four-cylinder engine not feel like it? One of the main features is a turbocharger, which all major automakers appear to be turning to in response to government fuel economy regulations and consumers demanding fuel efficiency with power.

A turbocharger allows smaller engines, such as a four-cylinder, to produce power equivalent to a larger engine. Turbochargers pump extra air into the engine to deliver more power. The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine squeeze more air into a cylinder, and more air means that more fuel can be added.

Ford Motor Company last week announced it is boosting production capacity of the award-winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine to meet European demand by doubling the output from its Cologne, Germany, engine plant to more than 1,000 engines a day.Ford

And although some third parties, such as Consumer Reports, have found turbocharged engines -- typically a premium of $1,000 or more -- aren’t worth certain upcharges, industry officials expect turbocharged engines to double domestically in the next five years.

According to auto research and forecasting company LMC Automotive, turbocharged engines are expected to increase from 16 percent this year to about 33 percent of all new vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2018.

“There’s more and more models coming on stream,” LMC Automotive senior manager of global powertrain automotive forecasting Michael O. Omotoso told MLive during an interview at the 2013 Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars last month. “It’s a good solution to improving fuel economy because they’re cheaper than hybrids. They’re cheaper than EVs.”

LMC’s estimates include a 4.5 percentage point increase in diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. to 7.5 percent of all new vehicles sold. All diesel engines feature turbochargers.

Honeywell Turbo Technologies, a branch of American multinational conglomerate company Honeywell International Inc., is a leader in turbocharger technology. The company, which works with nearly every major automaker and truck manufacturer in the world, consistently has 100 technologies in the pipeline regarding turbochargers, according to Tony Schultz, vice president of the Americas for Honeywell Turbo Technologies.

YouTube: Gasoline DualBoost Turbo - Honeywell Turbo Technologies

“The turbo revolution is here,” he told MLive at the conference. “It’s growing, and when you listen to the OEs (original equipment manufacturers), I think we moved from 'it’s going to come' to 'it’s here-it’s growing.'”

In the U.S., Ford has been a leader in the turbocharging “revolution” with its EcoBoost engines.

Ford’s five EcoBoost engines are credited with helping the automaker’s overall fuel economy. The Dearborn-based automaker has sold hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of EcoBoost-equipped vehicles globally since the lineup was launched with the 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost in 2009. Following its success, Ford added a 2.0-liter EcoBoost in 2010, followed by the 1.6-liter EcoBoost in 2011, 1.0-liter EcoBoost last year and a new aluminum-block, twin-cam 1.5-liter EcoBoost engine this year.

Ford says by the end of 2013, nearly 80 percent of the company’s global nameplates will be available with EcoBoost technology, which features turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing to achieve better fuel economy.

Rivals of the Dearborn-based automaker, including General Motors Co., have been slower to adopt turbocharged engines, but that's changing.

GM offers five turbocharged engines on about a dozen models, including the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel and a new 3.6-liter V6 twin-turbo engine for the 2014 Cadillac XTS and CTS Vsport models.

The Detroit-based automaker recently launched the V6 twin-turbo engine, which produces 410 horsepower, on the XTS. It also will be available later this year on the all-new CTS.

“The most important part of this vehicle is the engine,” said Hampden Tener, Cadillac product director, during a media event Aug. 26 to launch the twin-turbo engine. “Vsport gives us a place to bring all these high-performance components together in one model and really do a better job of marketing and communicating this sport nature.”

Rounding out the Detroit automakers, Chrysler Group LLC also offers a handful of light-duty vehicles with turbocharged engines, including the 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo with the Fiat 500 Abarth and Abarth Cabrio and all-new 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 on the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 and Promaster.

Karl Brauer, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said while a host of factors are pushing the turbocharging, the biggest push is coming from the government’s fuel economy regulations.

“The government is demanding more and more fuel efficiency numbers out of these cars,” he said. “Plus, the fuel injection and environmental technology caught up to turbocharging technology.”

Brauer said in the '80s and '90s there was a certain amount of turbocharging, but had lackluster fuel economy and environmental benefits.

Omotoso said even if consumers aren’t necessarily aware their engine includes a turbocharger, they do notice the price at the pump every time they fill up.

“People don’t want to be caught again with a gas guzzling vehicle when there is a spike in gas prices again (like in 2008),” he said. “Size and comfort used to be No. 1 and 2, but now fuel economy is up there as well.”